Wednesday, July 18, 2012

So, a few beers deep last night, Cobras and I got into a trans-continental bout of posting a bunch of 70s protometal summer jams on Facebook. I figured I could share some of that and put up a mix of shit like that I made a month or two ago for partying purposes. It ain't comprehensive, it's poorly researched, and ignores things that most people like. So yeah. Just a smattering of proto-metal, meathead, scuzz rock fuzzbombs from the golden age of quaaludes and tube amps.

1. Lucifer's Friend - Ride In The Sky
Best thing this fucking band ever did. It's like if Zeppelin decided to skip the eunuch Viking war cry on "Immigrant Song" and throw on some bleating horns and Hammond organ.

2. Randy Holden - Guitar Song
I decided to skip some of the bigger names in this style (Sabbath, Blue Cheer, etc.), and while Holden was a member of Blue Cheer for one album it'd be a mistake to overlook this one. The question I have regarding this song relates to the title. Aren't ALL Randy Holden songs guitar songs? Least descriptive title ever. Might as well have called it fucking "Music Song" or "Song With Structure" or something.

3. Cool Feet - Burning Desire
Fucking sick album from Luxembourg circa '76. Apparently only 200 were pressed, so good luck ever finding an actual copy of this that doesn't cost about the same as a downpayment on a house in a respectable neighborhood with good schools and curbside recycling. It's got everything though: tinny mid-fi production, harmonized guitars, broken English lyrics. If you hate this you're an asshole.

4. Stray - Jericho
I love ANY song with a galloping beat.

5. Frijid Pink - Crying Shame
This band had a balance between gnarly overdriven fuzz stomp and some sorta-corny-but-sorta awesome AOR boogie slop. Gotta love any heavy band that genuinely uses the phrase "golly gee" in the lyrics.

6. Grannie - Saga of the Sad Jester
Apparently the Grannie LP is one of the most valuable records in the world. Even the fucking repress sells for a cool hundo. Can't say I get it. A lot of it sounds like an anemic Wishbone Ash. But this song is pretty cool, like an anemic Wishbone Ash in a good way.

7. the Scorpions - It All Depends
I know I said I was gonna stay away from bigger names, but this doesn't count. The Scorpions circa the early '70s were a totally different beast than what they'd become later. Even though it's the same members, it might as well be a separate fucking band. This album and it's successor are killer. Shame what they'd become.

8. Flower Travellin' Band - Kamikaze
The Japanese Sabbath, if one were inclined towards clumsy cross-cultural analogies that fall short of their intended purpose. Most people would go with the "Satori" album, with good reason. But this one sounds like it could've been an out-take from that record, so fuck it. Excruciatingly goddamn killer band.

9. Råg I Ryggen - Det Kan Väl Inte Vara Farligt
Fuck man these Swedes kill it. This is for all the people (like me) who, when they hear the term "prog rock", just assume its gonna be a bunch of Guitar Center employees with 37-string guitars and pony tails. Definitely intricate musically, but that doesn't undermine the heaviness.

10. Titanic - Macumba
Same deal as the last song. Yeah, it's proggy, but it's also got some heft to it. And it's catchy as a motherfucker. It would surprise me if this DIDN'T turn up sampled on a Kanye West song.

11. Captain Beyond - Raging River Of Fear
This album is fucking perfect. More technically sophisticated than most heavy bands of the era, heavier than most technically sophisticated bands. Proto-prog-metal with more than a small amount of Southern rock thrown in.

12. Baby Grandmothers - Somebody Keeps Calling My Name
Apparently, this band's claim to fame was supporting Hendrix during his '68 Swedish tour. But pretty much every burnout old rock dude from this era has some story about opening for Hendrix, or learning some licks from him, or buying drugs for him. So you know, grain of salt. Still a good record. It can get a little jammy, but they manage to tie it all together, feng shui-ing their shit with some weird-ass vocals.

The FIRST Captain Beyond wins. After that they turned into a pale shell of their former selves. Their second album is terrible and the third one, while a little better, seems like they're trying to recreate the first and not doing a very good job of it.

So nice to see some love for Flower Travellin' Band - Kamikaze! Fucking awesome song! I'm one of the minority who enjoy Made in Japan more than Satori although both albums are great. I just think that the high points in MiJ are sliiiightly better. Take for example the song Hiroshima which actually is based on riffing in one part of Satori yet they really elevate it by making it a song about nuclear horror and it's affects to people of Hiroshima.

"CHILDREEEEN OF THE MUUUUSHROOOOOOM, AREN'T WE ALL??? AAAAAREN'T WE ALL????"

The gods used Christainity as temptation to repel people away from themselves, the pentagram being the holy symbol of the gods, and of their Chosen One's teachings, the Second Coming, Lucifer.Don't forget::::It is not a house of Jesus.Christianity is evil. It is responsible for slavery of Africans. It is responsible for this wicked reject dumping ground known as the United States.There is a major difference between how Europe and the rest of the world were inflicted with xtianity:::Push vs. pull strategy. As a result, expect the "1000 years with Jesus on Earth" may be reserved for the Europeans and few others who were forced into this evil religion:::The god's management of culpability defines the level of compensation everyone receives.The god's primary goal with this Situation was their minimization of culpability arising from inflicting us with the 20th century and liberal counter-culture. Everything I have taught is true. Now that this Situation is complete the disfavored have been taught. The gods are no longer/minimally responsible from this point forward, pitiful "reach around" compensation for ruining your Planet Earth. Their empty promise to me "We'll make it up to him." has been met with similar inadequate compensation in your case, and the gods will find a way to wash their hands of this obligation to me as well.If they were honest how little they ultimately intended to grant us our sacrifice would have ended long ago, but they used this lie "We'll make it up to them." to further our misery, with absolution of obligation on the agenda for the future.My experience is obscene. I paid everything. But at least the gods got what they wanted.

The gods made man in their image - malicious, vindictive, psychotic, all while claiming they are trying to help the disfavored, motivating them to pray with misery:::-Slavery-Meditereanean Noah's Flood-Black Plaugue-Salem Witch Hunt/The Crucible, a result I may/will experience in my life as the gods will strictly enforce the Big Lie that is their positioning.-The Central China Floods (1931, 3.5-4 million dead)-HolocaustThroughout time powerful men have been psychotic. Perhaps not in today's age of political correctness and diplomacy, but powerful men who GOT THINGS DONE, and the gods get things done.